[ **up: [[Literature, Chinese|Chinese literature]]** ] --- # *Zhiguai* = ‘strange tales’ (Chinese genre) *Zhiguai* are “among the famous mythological masterpieces of China.”[^1] [[“Zhiguai, or strange tales in English, is a genre of writing featuring ghosts, magical animal-human shapeshiftings, dreams that intervene in reality, and other supernatural characters and events.”|'Zhiguai, or strange tales in English, is a genre of writing featuring ghosts, magical animal-human shapeshiftings, dreams that intervene in reality, and other supernatural characters and events.']][^2] [[“These tales are set against a background of strict Confucian orthodoxy and Buddhist beliefs in sexual activity (whether heterosexual or homosexual) as a manifestation of human greed ...”]][^3] [^1]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358. [^2]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 357. [^3]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 357.